Retail

Establishing retail distribution is often the ultimate goal for a direct response advertiser. InterMedia Advertising’s retail subsidiary, InterQuantum, has successfully launched numerous products and created leading national brands. We guide clients into the retail marketplace and manage the entire transition process for their products, from on-shelf-placement to lucrative sell-through.

InterQuantum leverages its experience and relationships with buyers throughout the major retail categories, including food, drug, mass merchandise, health food, club and convenience stores. Our successes include product placement at Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Rite Aid, CVS, Costco, GNC, Kroger and Safeway, to name a few.

Choosing the Right Retail Partners
With the high cost of entering the retail channel today, InterQuantum puts the emphasis on the word “partnership.” It is imperative to be on the same page as the retailer for expectations on both sides. The retailer relies on the manufacturer’s commitment to advertise and promote the product via traditional media venues, as well as through the retailer’s own channels – store fliers, on-shelf and off-shelf merchandising vehicles, temporary price reductions (TPR’s) – where the manufacturer pays for the cost of the price markdown – BOGO’s (“buy one get one free”).

Every retailer needs to have a constant and steady supply of products in order to stay in business. However, if there is no demand for your product, the retailer stands to lose money, as your product will be taking up space that could be more profitable, allocated to a product that is in demand. That’s why the sell-through strategy, advertising and support are so critical.

Without advertising support, this inevitably creates a situation where the product does not meet sales expectations, and the retailer will either send the product back, or destroy it at great expense to the manufacturer.

The InterQuantum Philosophy

• Create cost-efficient strategic marketing, advertising and sales programs
• Apply a phased approach to minimize risk and control the outlay of funds
• Get to market efficiently and effectively
• Analyze results throughout the different cycles of distribution
• Sustain distribution
• Don’t let up on the advertising until your product is well established
• Drive company growth and product sales

Working with your Retail Partners

As a DR marketer, the dream is to see your product on the shelves of thousands of retailers across the country. Unfortunately, this dream can turn into a nightmare. A manufacturer can lose thousands of dollars paid to retailers for slotting and setup, and worse, potentially millions of dollars from product sitting on the shelves and gathering dust. Take a step back and determine if you have the ability to make the leap before you venture out. Here’s a look at some questions every manufacturer should address before embarking on the slippery slope of working with retail chains and the transition from direct response to retail:

• Have you created enough awareness through direct response advertising?
• Is there enough demand to ensure sufficient turns?
• Do you have the financial resources to pay for inventory, slotting and new item set-up?
• Each chain has a dizzying array of requirements–can you meet them?
• Do you have sufficient human resources to deal with distribution logistics?
• Can your production capacity keep up with the retailer’s demands?

Choosing the Right Time and the Correct Channel

Choosing the right time to roll out to retail is not as simple as it may seem. Retailers today typically run on a “Planogram” schedule. What this means is that for every category in the store, an annual calendar determines when the buyer reviews the category, adjusts the product selection, removes under-performing products and brings in new products.

Proper distribution strategy matches your products to the needs of the shoppers in specific channels. It is critical to understand the demographics and psychographics of each channels’ customers, as well as the costs associated with doing business in each.

Navigating the retail minefield is not for the faint of heart. The retail experts at InterQuantum will help you evaluate the right retailers, launch strategies and resources. This way, your company will construct the right foundation before embarking on building your retail empire.

Contact us today to discuss how we can help your retail strategy.